Vacation Means Workshop of Doom Fun!

Well fair readers of the old Blog, it's been a really busy couple of years for the Leadaddict. Between Coaching Football, Being a Football Parent, selling my business, huge demands at work, and an incredibly busy family life, there ain't been many candles burned in the old Workshop of Doom.

But I am here to tell you, the ole addict is gonna have some time to hit this thing right. Starting tomorrow I am on vacation til January 4th. And beside all of my family and friend commitments and the holiday, this old grognard is gonna paint and build armies and terrain. I can't wait. Here's what's on the block to be worked on. A nice mix of old and new:

Lead Addict's Vacation Projects 

Painting

Epic

28mm Post Apoc Teams

Necromunda

High Elves – Singles

High Elves – Bases

Dwarven – Singles

Frost Grave

·         3 Warbands

·         4 Special Characters

·         Undead

Terrain

28mm Post Apoc

Epic Buildings

Necromunda
Frostgrave

I have gotten all of the Frostgrave stuff from the first two Nickstarters and have been working on terrain, so I am looking forward to finishing some ruins and knocking out some warbands.

Since Dragon Rampant is coming out soon, I need to get some armies ready for that. I have Undead mostly done, generic human medieval (bretonnians) mostly done, and a couple of units of Dwarves started. Need to get a full complement of High Elves and Dwarves finished.

A couple of us Basement Generals have agreed to dust off our Necromunda and play some this winter, I have 3 gangs done, time to dust off the unpainted ones and paint them up and have more options and base paint my terrain.

And as the Baron and I get ready for our Fistful of Lead: Wasteland Warriors Kickstarter, time to paint some more figs and finish more have finished terrain.

And I continue to lust after Onslaughts Epic figs. So I may put in a small notTau order and have some 6mm fun as well.

Ambitious. Yes, But as I get back into the swing of things, I wanted to limit my choices, but have a variety I would enjoy. So If I get a unit form each category I'll be happy. We shall see...

Best wishes and Merry Christmas to all

Lead Addict

Fistful of Lead: Wasteland Warriors

Hey gang. with all the Post Apoc goodness on here of late, I wanted to let you in on what I have mentioned before.

The Baron wrote a supremely fun set of skirmish/gang Old West game called Fistful of Lead. Its simple and fun. It has lots of flavor, plays to a conclusion, and is amazing fun, and can play with 8 or even 12 people at a time. Go buy it. Its cheap. $6.00. It has a great system behind it that can be used for many genres.

Which brings me to Fistful of Lead: Wasteland Warriors. While I dont feel as strongly about Wild West gaming as the Baron does, I have always loved that FoL seemed infinitely customizable because the system was rock solid underneath. So as you can see on the Lead Addict blog, I love Post Apoc gaming. So what could be closer to the dusty anything goes environment of the fictional Wild West than the shanties and wastelands of the PA? Thus was born FoL:WW. A few questions have been asked on the yahoo group : fistfuloflead@yahoogroups.com. So I thought I would cast a wider net and fill everyone in.

FoL:Wasteland Warriors is my and the Baron's take on the Post Apoc. Its equal parts The Road (what could be more soul crushing and thought provoking for a father), the Book of Eli (old people cannibals and blind ass kickers, I'll have some), Fallout 3(just play it), and Gamma World (its like a warm blanket on a cold winter night). Its not self serious, but you can play it gritty, or you can play it Wazoooo! and Gonzo. and the sweet spot is somewhere in between. We are using all of the foundational mechanics of FoL, but are adding a bunch of weapons(automatics and heavy weapons, to experimental and high-tech), mutations and Mutants, Robots, and all of the fun you want for a small gang skirmish game in the PA. We are also refining the rules for FoL:WW based on umpteen playtests of the Wild West Game and Wasteland Warriors. These are the Basic Rules. And they represent what the current Fistful of Lead rules are now. Simple, fun, short and sweet. And you can play only those rules and have a great time. They are a complete set of rules. And it doesn't matter if you play them at 6mm, 15mm, or 28mm. So for all you nuts out there playing 6mm single mounted skirmish, you can. My collection is 28mm. But I am starting on my 15mm collection next thanks to the great figs by Khurusan.

 I also wanted to add some of the funner Roleplaying aspects the Baron and I fondly remeber from our Gamma World days. So we are adding a whole second section of Advanced rules that includes Full Random Gang Generation System, Random Mutation Charts, Vehicle Rules, Random Equipment, Loot and Weapon Charts, A Bestiary, Random Events and Encounter Charts, Scenarios, and Campaign Rules. Its a major expansion to an already great game.



Mr Roper. Slum Lord and Arms Dealer.



So where are we with all this? How close to publishing? Well the Basic Rules were 1 playtest away from being completed. So they are done and ready. We need to format and do the art. But that is doable pretty quick if we will just do it. Think D&D Basic two column format with integral art work. The Advanced rules are about half done. Mainly just need to get them all on the same sheet of paper.

I would hope that we would have a draft ready to be finalized by Spring Recruits. We'll see. Life has a way of getting in the way of our fun. We have not decided on a price yet, but we want to keep it reasonable. We are just some guys who game a lot and this is just an extra thing. We aren't trying to sell minis. For us, a good set of rules is worth its weight in gold, but we also want it to be accessible. So affordable is key. I'll keep you guys updated as we go.

After this I will probably do a campaign sandbox book. I can't seem to get those GM genes out of me so my campaign world and all of its factions will show up as a sandbox campaign for those of you who like that sort of thing. Nothing is funner than secret alliances and double crosses in a mini game. I don't want to bog down the rules with that stuff though. I never liked that in rule books. And as a sandbox, it will have to have some more random encounter, loot and bestiary charts and maps.

After that, well I think we have to take FoL to the stars. We will have worked out most of the high tech weaponry by then. The Baron is heading the other dierction and is working on a Horse and Musket version, and then hopefully a Dark Ages version. If only we could win the lottery so we could write wargame rules, pay sculptors and artists and have a game company.

Stay tuned folks. Updates in between trying to get French done for Black Powder, A new huge Undead army for 15mm Hail Caesar!, and other fun stuff.

Once more into the wastes...

The Generals met at the Barons again last night for a game. The Baron seemed a little war weary from hosting games (Gaslight, Goalsystem Delves,etc), so I offered a couple of choices to host.

He chose the Fistful of Lead Post Apocalypse game we wrote - Warriors of the Wastelands. We wanted to add some of the gonzo grit and humor that comes along with our growing up with Gamma World, After the Bomb, and the retro Mutant Future. I had a scenario planned with visctory conditions and motivations. I forgot it all at home. I had the minis and terrain though, so we just decided to wing it. The BAron gave a good account of the battle. I'll add some other things.

We had the Corpse of Engineers. Some unfortunate grafitti and a lack of understanding of the Ancients by its new founders has led to the unfortunate mispelling of the word Corps. Engineers who really only have about half the info they need to make good engineering decisions, they thirst for more. Always searching for knowledge. Members are lifers who give all posessions to the Corpse. they have good tech, but sometims it goes horribly wrong. they may also hide a more sinister secret as well.

We also had 2 gangs of Treasure Hunters. They call themselves archeologists, excavators, miners. Everyone else calls them looters. The dregs of whats left of society, feeding on the remains of the Ancients. They have a tentative alloance with the engineers, but since they are both in the recovery business, things happen. They are the enemies of the wastelander gangs who see them as intruders.

We had 2 gangs of Wastelanders. Grubby, filthy, dirty scoundrels who eek out a living in the wastes. Wastleanders lead a solitary nomadic life with their tribes or families. They hate Looters and see them as carrion that pick the wastes clean of the last valuable pieces of humanity that help the wastelanders survive. They have an uneasy truce with the Engineers, with whom they sometimes trade info for technology.  

Finally we had a Wasteland Mutant Gang. Everyone hates a Mutie. Shunned and thrown out of their Wateland tribes when the y are found to be mutants, most die alone in the wastes. But look out for those who survive the horrors of the deep wastelands, for they are to be feared. And when they band together, Wastelanders and Looters alike fear their fury.

Gangs are 3-8 figs. Figs are a mix of Copplestone, Citadel, and Clicky repaints. Anything is possible. we have full random generation rules for gangs, leaders, monsters, and mutants. Random generation for loot and equipment. Or you can just build your own based on the WYSIWYG principle of the fig. Exploration is a fun aspect of the game for us, but not essential. and you can run it with or without a referee. Based on the Barons Fistful of Lead rules. They are simple, fun, and scenario driven, with the added flavor and salty bitterness of the apocalypse. I hope we will have the rules ready for sale by Recruits XX. I will definately be putting on a game at Recruits of Warriors of the Wastelands. Pics are from the Baron.  

SFAR - First post

A bunch of small posts today. I wanted to let everyone know I am working on what is hopefully a fun and fast set of Sci Fi Micro Armor rules(SFAR for development, the working title is Hollow Shell). Its got some feel from some of my favorite micro scale games, and some other stuff. Its only 5 pages right now and has only been playtested by myself solo a couple of times. I sent it out to  a couple of the Basement Generals who I like getting feedback from. So its a work in progress. But it was nice to get it out of my head and on paper. Also on the rules front, the Baron is working ard on his Horse and Musket variant for Fistful of Lead. He shuld be publishing in time for the 20th anniversary recruits this fall. also slated for completion (I hope) is our post apocalypse variant, Fistful of Lead:Warriors of the Wasteland.

Quick Update 4-13-12

First off its Friday the thirteenth, and I stopped by for a rare breakfast on the way in to work. And my breakfast cost $6.66. So off to a good start! I wonder when the back cat will cross my path? and I need to find a ladder to walk under.

Second, The Kansas City Royals Home Opener is today. I grew up with the Royals and their amazing teams from the 70's and 80's. George Brett, Frank White, Willie Wilson, Fred Patek, Dan Quisenberry, Al Hroboski, Paul Splitorf, UL Washington, and the list goes on and on. Hope springs eternal, and spring is a time of rebirth. Let's hope the boys in blue can contend like the old guys did evey year.

Next, played an amazingly fun game of a new variant of the Baron's Fistful of Lead rules for the horse and musket era. It was a blast we were playtesting some new ideas and all of it will make it to the rules one way or another. Hat's go off to Bill, who's legionairres valiantly held the doorway to protect their prisoner, until one final blow ended the FFL's last hopes in Mexico. Good show. I am sur ethe Baron is doing a write up sometime today. http://baronvonj.blogspot.com/

Next, I dropped off  a couple of units for Jaye and Scott to paint for the Pennisular games that we are hopefully going to have for Black Powder. They are gonna get a few units painted of the french so I can get a jump on them when I finish the British. I also hope that maybe I can paint some extra units of British, and trade them with my Brother in Law for some French he painted, or will paint. If so, we could be in business in no time.

Next, Khurusan is coming through, adding bits and pieces to their lines as promised. I hope that the Jasmine throne Batallions are coming. Pleeeeease.http://theminiaturespage.com/news/?id=1037848092

Finally, as mentioned here before, our buddy Chris, master of great convention games, has FINALLY!, started his own blog. Welcome to the end of the 20th century Chris! You should all bookmark his site. He was a feature on the A-Game blog for his great French and Indian game at Recruits. Expect much more from master Chris. http://cluckamok.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend! Its supposed to rain all weekend, so I am going to try to paint a unit of BRitish Royal and Guards Infantry, or at least get started.

And remember, just paint.

Get the Loot - Fallmouth Hills

The FoL:WW game was a lot of fun. We had 6 players, and a small board, so I could get them to engagement quicker. Well they got engaged, but not as much with each other as with the environment. Remember, in the wastes, the environment is just as deadly.

The scenaior was simple: Sticky Earl, the prospector, got drunk in town and let it slip he had been looting some good stuff up in Fallmouth Hills. He expected a continued treasure trove of goodness to come out of there. Well, when the rest of the saloon heard what he said, they all decided to get there crews together to get what they could before Ol Sticky Earl could back up there.

So, a simple search and loot scenario, with loot having a value, and so does getting rid of the other gangs, or dealing with the environment. Everytime you came to a terrain feature or item, you could search. We developed the Loot/Event Deck to turn over to see what happens. It worked well. and one player had so much to search and so meany encounters, he never got out of a 12" by 12" area, and almost won the game.

Here's pics of the game.

Nice to get this phase of the post apoc stuff done for now. Habve some more buildings to paint, but gonna put those on the back burner for now.

I didn't get much this year at the convention, toy wise. I was very focused on what I was looking for, and seeing none I didn't really get anything except a couple of great things.

first, I got a beautifully painted 15mm ECW army by the Baron for a couple of blisters form Recreational Conflict. I now have a little interest in adding some to them to do a pocket version(almost) of Black Powder.

second, I got a couple of MicroPanzers Mechs, to go with my 15mm Aquan Army.

Since the Workshop of Doom is in a total mess, I decided to do a reorganization and a thorough cleaning before I started anything else. But once complete, I've kinda had Epic Space Marine on the brain this last month, afetr trading a bunch of my Battlefront stuff for some nicely painted Marines and Squats. Also, I would like to add about 20 archers to my Viking Horde. And I would like to start rebasing in earnest, the 15mm Napoleonics. and Blasphemy, I feel an odd itch in my brain to paint and acquire some new 28mm space Marines for In the Emperors Name, or FAD. Let's just see what happens.

Recruits Con was this past weekend

Well RECRUITS was ths past weekend, and much fun was had by me, the boys and some of the Generals.

As always, the con was first class. We get kinda spoiled and never say enough thanks, and can I helps to Duane and Laura Fleck, who created and have ran all 18 shows. Wish I could help more. thanks for your continued efforts.

So, on Friday night, cruised the vendors with the boys, said hi to old friends, then sat down for a fun, Force on Force game of Rhodesian African war. Terrain was gorgeous, but of course, I forgot to snap picks. A whole bunch of chits and markers were used to run the game, and while it simplifies things, it certainly detracts from the overall effect. Since I have only really played ambush Alley, I don't know if  you need all the counters or not. i will take another read of Force on Force and see what I think.

There was great suppport for Tomorrow's War. The worldwide unveiling of the Osprey edition happened at Recruits this year. and sales looked brisk. Its great to see a great game supported at a local con.

On Saturday I was very excited to play in an old friends stunning and clever 54mm French and Indian War game. He was using John Jenkins collectors edition figures. gorgeous and such a classic toy soldier feel to them. It was a real pleasure using such awesome figs.

His terrain and woods and everything about the game was first class. He used This Very Ground, which is a pretty fun set. I told everyone if they had had someone selling Conquest F&I stuff, I w ould have been right there. And I still might be. Put an order together on sunday for them, but waited to see if the glow will receed. But, I am pretty pumped about the idea.

Then in the afternoon, I ran Fistful of Lead: Warriors of the Wasteland. The Baron's cowboy skirmish rules, with our mods for Post Apocalypse. It was really fun. Mostly Basement Generals played, but it was great to have a complete game, ready to go and enjoy. The Baron helped a bunch, as no one knows his rules better than him. Thanks Baron. Pics and background on the next post.

 

Post Apoc Game at the Barons

We played with some of the new post apoc terrain last night to get our feet wet for our Fallout/Post Apoc game for Recruits Con in September.

We are using the new rules The Baron and I wrote. They are a post apoc mod for the published rules the wrote: Fistful of Lead. FoL is an Old West shoot'em up game, using quick resolution, and a card based turn mechanic. Great fun and we have shot up Lesterville on many an occassion.

Well my great skirmish love is post apocalyptic. It's pretty fun to model ruins and with all the great scavenger and mutant figs on the market, its just too fun. So we decided to add a bunch of chrome to FoL, retool a few things, and we now have Fistful of Lead: Warriors of the Wastelands, or FoL:WoW.

We played our first real playtest last night with the Basement Generals. simple looting scenario, but it was fun doing real playtesting with the guys. Thanks for all your suggestions and input.

Here's some picks:



skirmish in Shanty Town



RPG vs Flamethrower

Reese's Boys take a run down the street

Overall Layout with the Generals

Collapsed building with rubble piles and cars

Jackson Drive Playas moving forward against the Muties  

Shotgun vs Machine Gun

It was a fun night. We got some good stuff resolved on some random charts, how to keep the game moving, some weapon rules, etc.

thanks again to the Generals. One thing I do know, I have a lot of painting to do to be ready for the con.